Arnold Andrews was laid to rest on September 8, 2006, the feast of Our Lady of Charity of Cobre, the patroness of Cuba.

Three days later, his very close friend, Fr. Ramon Hernandez, was celebrating the dawn Mass in the Blessed Virgin Chapel at St. John Vianney Catholic Church.  He sat in the presider's chair after Holy Communion and bowed his head. Suddenly, he began to sing the Ave Maria in a voice that filled the entire church.

Afterward, he said to me, “you know who that song was for?”  Looking into his moist eyes, indeed, I knew.  “That was Arnold’s favorite song,” he reminded me.

I knew then that there was hope for all of us who knew and loved Arnold.

We will always miss his physical being, but the goodness with which he touched us will indeed allow us to sing again – to sing God’s praises for Arnold’s brief presence in our lives.

This little multimedia tribute was prepared for presentation on December 9, at WestCare Foundation’s annual board meeting.  My sincere thanks go out to Dick Steinberg and Chris Yarnold at WestCare for this opportunity to share.  I hope that it brought a little solace to Arnold’s fellow workers at WestCare.

I am deeply grateful to Ben Rodgers and Darrell Clanton for their on-location recording of Fr. Ramon at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, Fr. Bob Morris the Pastor for the generous use of the Church, and to Luis who stayed late into the evening for the recording session. 

I am most appreciative for the efforts of Barry Hartglass who recorded the musical track and mixed and mastered the recording, and for the classical guitar artistry of Alex Domschot.

A very special thanks also to Annie Karto and Trich Diaz for their prayerful support during the recording session.  Annie Karto is a world class Catholic singer and songwriter who also provided technical support for the session.

May God Bless all of you abundantly!